Percipience vs Misperception
The purpose of this discussion is to review Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (PAC). PAC meaning behind the written concerning human perception symbolically, representing how humans live in a world with contrasting reality verse human interpretation. Plato’s writing combined human rules and meanings of life with psychology by asking questions and listening for responses, similar to Socrates. This purpose was to seek out wisdom and human patterns that arise from most superficially meaningful human conversations. Moreover, having a conversation and conducting empirical research through asking questions and conversations provides a plethora of insights from diverse individuals. The other observation about the PAC is that the shadows on the cave walls are ever-changing and not staying stagnant – similar to life and individuals’ reality that there is no stability or consistency, which could lead to a false reality and ignorance that real-world knowledge does not exist out of the dark cave.
Additionally, the aforementioned displays the conflicts between knowledge and belief and how an individual can choose to no longer be ignorant once – one has been enlightened. The PAC examines the very nature of humanity and our freedom of the unknown. Another observation after further research out of the PAC, however, citing scholars who reviewed the PAC, was understanding how humans view their life and choice on assumptions and not based on reality, yet one perception of their reality, similar to humans with reality mental health issues. The conclusion distilled from the PAC is that wisdom is not innate; however, if an individual chooses ignorance after being enlightened, their perception will not change because they are choosing ignorance, lack of perception, and untruths.
